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Almost Home

Ordinary seaman, and occasional Alvin support swimmer, Ronald Whims, relays directions to Alvin’s pilot and helps guide the submersible into position for recovery by the research vessel Atlantis during a July 2010 expedition in the Pacific Ocean. Researchers used the vessel and submersible to study hydrothermal vents along the Endeavour section of the Juan de Fuca Ridge and to deploy instrumentation for NEPTUNE Canada, a cabled seafloor observatory that will gather live data from a wide array of instruments deployed in a broad spectrum of undersea environments.

(Photo by Lance Wills, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)